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Escambia Deputy, 2 Others Injured In Nine Mile Road Wreck
August 18, 2011
An Escambia County Sheriff’s deputy and two others were injured in a two vehicle wreck early Thursday morning on Nine Mile Road.
According to the Florida Patrol, the wreck happened at 2:42 a.m. as Deputy Heather Bruce, 27, was westbound on Nine Mile Road, responded to a call. That’s when Elisa Anderson, 19, of Pensacola pulled out in front of the deputy from Wanda Drive. Bruce attempted to avoid the collision, but her 2005 Crown Victoria patrol car struck the side rear of Anderson’s 2001 Oldsmobile.
Anderson and her passenger, 21-year old Victoria Dawson, received minor injuries and were transported to Sacred Heart Hospital. Deputy Bruce also received minor injuries and was also transported to Sacred Heart Hospital.
Charges against Anderson are pending, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Comments
28 Responses to “Escambia Deputy, 2 Others Injured In Nine Mile Road Wreck”
Sandra I get it and you make a good point on this one. Sometimes common
sense up here in the north end takes a back seat to other ideas.
Some of you complaining must think we are all deaf dumb and blind up here.
I have seen officers breaking the speed limit just to go to the Tom Thumb.
I have seen officers ignor the speeding trucks and won’t do their jobs.
When are you going to realize as someone already pointed out that they
are just people. That person said they make mistakes, I say some of
them are making mistakes by choice and that, my friend , is abuse of the
badge and the power we issue them. I thank you for all that you will do,
but I don’t thank you for the other issues. I thank all the officers that risk
their lives for who ever that may be when it happens, but please don’t
pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining.
Listen. If you want to have a deputy pity party then have at it.. I have great sympathy for your pay issues, but dont keep saying that I am bashing law enforcement when clearly i am not. If you illiterates had read and comprehended my posts you would have realized that I am commenting on an obviously bad policy within the ECSO and not the deputys themselves. As far as relying on a deputy, i am 45 years old and have never called one for anything. I carry a loaded .45 legally and practice with it every 3 weeks rain or shine…probably get more range time than the deputy thats supposed to be “protecting” me. Now if I get broke into I’ll be sure and call you to get a report so that I can get something back from my insurance but other than that I’ll protect myself thank you.
I don’t know about some of ya’ll but when I was 19 I had NO business out at 2:00 am on a Thursday night anyways!! Stupid girl should have been home in bed and she wouldn’t have caused all off this ruckus!!!
Also, my husband is a deputy who is under payed and unappreciated too….. thanks to all who serve and protect – you are appreciated by some!! Prayers going up for the officer and the 2 girls!
Oh for crying out loud. (or in your beer…whatever floats your boat). The civilian pulled out into the line of a fast moving vehicle. Whether it was a police cruiser or another civilian vehicle, she should have made sure she had a clear lane to move into. Being distracted is not an excuse for not paying attention to what is going on.
To Molino Jim,
I appreciate you! Thank you for being positive in such a negative world! The Deputies of ECSO are the lowest paid in the state yet we have currently the highest murder rate! We have high crime and need a change! Yet, citizens are so busy complaining and not acting! I don’t wish anyone to feel warm and fuzzy, I’m aware some Deputies are jerks, but most of us aren’t! We work hard for the community and yes we may speed, but give us the benefit of the doubt, we are probably trying to get somewhere for a reason!
Note to self, stop for coffee and donuts, instead of doing my Job!! No one can bash you publically when they don’t even know you or apparently appreciate what you do!!!
I also support Law Enforcement Officers!!
Please also come fast if I call!!!
For those who are so hung up on “HIGH PRIORITY CALLS” as to when to run 10-18. A great many LEO are hurt and some times killed because they are told it’s just a family disturbance. The call comes in and many times the dispatcher is told wrong about what’s going on. I recall the city dispatcher was told and dispatched an officer on a “JUST A NOTHING CALL”. The neighbor who called it in failed to say a shot had been fired next door. As the officer walked up to the door he was shot in the face with a shotgun and died. The young fellow had shot and killed his grandfather in the back yard—but the neighbor didn’t think that mattered. So please help me understand how you draw the line between high and low priority calls. .
When someone is complaining about the police they are the ones most of the time they come after for one reason are another. First Hen to cackel layed the egg.
I agree 1,000% to LEO!!!! Ur rite my husband is a deputy and people don’t do nuthn but complain bout how they do there job. To Sandra….u may have drove emergency vehicles but u obviously don’t kno tha rules fer law enforcement. They aunt driven sum ambulances er fire truck hunny. There doen there job, putn there lives n danger fer ignorant people that can’t seem to stay outa trouble. Humans disgust me…
Wow. Bash LEO’s and expect them to save your butts … but if they respond to your bashing they are being egotistical maniacs and building an atmosphere of mistrust?
Just FYI to the LEOs reading here…. I completely support and appreciate what you all do. It is obviously a thankless job beyond being a dangerous one. Please hurry if I call.
(this is not to say that there aren’t some real jerks at ECSO, but the majority are just folks doing a job which involves risking their life for ours)
and the comments from the law enforcement officers of the world that decided to post here sure do make me feel warm and fuzzy!!!!
I know their comments make me feel safer too…………
is there really and wonder folks are so mis-trusting of law enforcement?
Educating the ignorant: You sound like an egotistical maniac. I am judging no-one, in fact nowhere in the article does it mention that the deputy was not running lights and sirens. I made an observation based on past experience. If your policy dictates that you may exceed the speed limit without running warning lights then maybe the policy should be tweaked . Afterall, whats a few milliamps used up for running those blue LEDs as compared to a human life. This area has quite a few elderly that drive around and that extra little flash may be what saves them from being the next one hit because you were speeding to a “low priority call” and couldnt , by policy, use your warning devices. I hope and pray that the attitude and ego that you’ve shown in your message is not the general attitude towards the public by all of our other LEOs. If so then I might as well be talking to a brick wall.
To Sandra,
I hope you never need this Deputy because you are judging her and you don’t even know her. God have mercy on your judgemental soul…
Heather, please ignore rude comments on this page and realize that most people have more important things to do!
Im sorry I had to respond for my fellow Law Enforcement Officer.
Here is a news flash for all the Sunday morning quarterbacks:
Deputies can not run lights and sirens unless it is a In-progress High Priority Calls.
So yes, they may speed sometimes to a call that needs a faster response but doesn’t qualify for “lights and sirens.”
Just answer this. There is some one at your house that you want to leave, that is verbally threatening you and yet it’s five o’clock traffic on Nine Mile Road.
Do you want the Officer driving the speed limit? Yes, I would say not.
Better yet, this Deputy that some of you are quick to judge, like you have never sped or broken a traffic law (hypocrites), was responding to a fight in progress. So answer this. If your child was getting jumped in that parking lot, would you like her to do the speed limit?
So I will leave you with this, sit behind your desk, pay your taxes because it’s safe there!! You don’t have to worry about getting shot at or protecting the lives of others. You crawl in your bed safe at night knowing that if you pick up that phone and dial 911, we at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office are coming, and coming fast!!!!
To Deputy Heather Bruce may God be with you and I am glad you are safe!
Accidents happen when you do your job!!
Like I said Jim, you shut em down prior to your arrival. EMS does it upon request by callers routinely. Run your warning lights enroute to protect the public that you serve then shut down when you get four or five blocks out. Its pretty simple really. I am allowed by Florida law to exceed the posted speed limit by ten MPH but I am also required to use my lights and siren to warn the public that I am coming and to ask them to yield the right of way. The operable word being “ask”. Too many emergency vehicle drivers think that those horns lights and sirens give them immediate control and all access to the roadways, usually it is the young drivers and by the age of this deputy I think that she may be only five or six years into the emergency driving scene. Again, just my opinion and thank you Leos for all that you do.
Sandra—-The use of the lights and all of the rest does let everyone know you are coming. But it can also turn a nickel dime robbery into a hostage situation. A few years ago two city officer responded to a bank alarm in down town Pensacola. The PD dispatcher call the bank when the officers were out side. They could not see into the bank because of the reflective glass. The two robbers could see out and one went out the front door while the other went out the rear door. the end result was that one office was killed by robber #2. The reason I tell you this is that the two robbers could have very well started shooting in side the bank. Some times you do not want to tell everyone you are running 10-18 To LEO–take a deep breath. LEO are “always wrong” in some peoples mind. Smile and just say to yourself it’s a tough job, but it’s fun and the first time you save a life you’ll know it’s all worth while.
Jack, this was a Sheriff’s Deputy, not an MP. Law enforcement must sometimes exceed the speed limit, which is allowed by Florida State Statute.
I agree with LEO’s comments. Deputies are either catching flak for taking too long to get to a call, or catching flak for driving too fast.
If folks would pay attention on the road, and stay out of the left lane unless they’re passing or turning left, these wrecks would happen with a lot less frequency.
Years ago when I was an MP (Military Police) we were told that we never had permission to excede the speed limit. Speed limits are law. The lights were to warn others to get out of the way.
Best wishes to all concerned.
To Southern by choice: does it matter where any driver is going at any hour if they have the required documents (lic, ins, reg) they were both over 18 so no governmental curfue? just curious why their destination matters?
I don’t care what anyone says, if it was the other way around the citizen would be given the ticket for “failure to control the speed of a vehicle to avoid a collision”
I have seen this happen in the pensacola area 3 times over the last 2 years.
this information leads this citizen to believe that any LEO is NEVER at FAULT for anything…… GOD forbid they admit human error like the rest of us!
If you pull out in front of someone and hit them anywhere on the side, it is clearly the fault of the person pulling out.
Does not matter if the LEO was on a call, running over the speed limit or did not have the blue lights or siren on.
As long as the LEO headlights were on, the LEO is not one bit at fault.
Its easy Leo, if you have to exceed the speed limit and need to get to the call faster warn the general public that you are coming. Those lights and siren are bolted to the roof of your car for a purpose. You can shut down when you get closer to the scene if you are worried about scaring off the burglar or whatever you are going to. I’ve driven emergency vehicles professionally for 25 years and understand that some people freak when they see lights in the rear view mirrror, but most of them are capable drivers and know how to react and yield to my vehicle. Again, I’m not bashing law enforcement. They have a tough enough job as it is. Just giving an opinion.
To “personally”: The officer hit the other vehicle on the rear quarter panel, which is on the side of the car behind the back door. The vehicle pulled out in front of the officer from a side road, so obviously it was that driver’s fault.
Just curious. . . .where were these young girls (ages 19 & 21) going at 2:42 a.m.?
After 5 years of law enforcement in this town I’ve come to realize that no matter what we do the public is never satisfied. You gripe about us speeding when u have no idea what we’re responding to. Then we drive the speed limit and get griped at for taking to long to respond to your call. Everyone on here and other sites bashes us for mistakes we make, remember we’re only human just like you. Remember this next time you bash a cop for speeding, we’re the ones not scared to put our lives on the line for you. If you wanna make a difference then sign up since you all seem to know how to do my job better than I can!
I didn’t see where the woman got t-boned. It said she got hit by the officer
on the side rear. Sounds to me like the woman who pulled out from
Wanda Drive didn’t hear or see the officer, but then the officer hit her
in the rear. If we hit someone in the rear it would be our fault, but this officer says she was on a call, so I’m pretty sure she will get a free pass. Not that I doubt it is possible that this officers liights were not on or that she was not speeding, I personally have also witnessed those events. but there are times when
people are just not looking for emergency vehicles. and some are distracted.
The reason they go that fast and don’t use blue lights is because most of the general public freaks out when they see blue lights which causes confusion and they don’t know wether to swap lanes or just stop. if they just stop it causes congestion in the roadway which makes them have to slow down and go around cars stopped in the middle of the road. Most of the time they can get where their goin faster without blue lights. They turn them on at intersections to get through the intersection without causing an accident. And if the deputy was not at fault then the other driver should be charged. Just think that deputy you gripe about speeding may be goin to save one of your family members lives so next time don’t be so quick to judge.
i, too, always thought that officers were suppose to turn on lights/sirens when excessing the speed on the highways- then, i became involved w/the “citizens law enforcement academy” course and found out that actually, they arent required to do that – for several valid reasons…one, being that they dont want to alert the possible perps that they are on the way….anyway, maybe other LEO can elaborate more on this topic.
I like law enforcement but i also can tell you that in all probability this deputy was exceeding the speed limit and was not running lights and siren. It happens all the time up and down 29. Youre traveling north or south and a deputy blows by you doing 80 mph with no blue lights or siren. They only turn em on when they get to an intersection. Now I dont know if this is good policy or not but I also dont think that the woman that got T boned should be charged.